The RideLondon Classique will not take place in 2025, as the event’s organisers revealed that there was “no option” but to cancel the Women’s World Tour stage race after the UCI shifted its position in the calendar by a week, making it “impossible” for the race to be held in central London.
While the loss of the three-day race, won once again in dominant fashion by Lorena Wiebes last month, has been branded a “sad day for professional women’s cycling”, organisers London Marathan Events did confirm, however, that the news will have no bearing on the RideLondon-Essex sportive events and wider festival of cycling in London, which will take place in their usual late-May slot next year.
A legacy event of the 2012 London Olympics, the RideLondon Classique was first held in 2013 as a one-day race before being granted Women’s World Tour status in 2016, the same year that it became the richest women’s race in the world with a total prize fund of €100,000, equalling the now-defunct men’s RideLondon-Surrey Classic.
After a three-year break due to the Covid pandemic and following the demise of the men’s race, in 2022 the women’s event was expanded to a three-day tour, as part of a wider ‘festival of cycling’ that includes the popular sportive events.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Since its expansion, Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes has proved the dominant force on the largely flat roads around Essex and the capital, securing a hat-trick and clean sweep of stages and the overall victory in 2022 and 2024, with only Charlotte Kool breaking Wiebes’ streak last year.
This morning, however, the UCI unveiled its 2025 calendar for both the men’s and women’s World Tours and with it the news that the RideLondon Classique has been shunted from its traditional slot in the last full weekend of May to the following weekend, in order to provide space for the trio of Spanish stage races – the Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia, and the Vuelta a Burgos – that take up most of the month.
That date change – which London Marathon Events claims was made “unilaterally” and without consultation by the UCI – has forced the race into an unexpected hiatus next year due to the protracted and complicated nature of planning events in London, the organisers confirmed on Friday, just a week after the UK’s other major women’s stage race, the Tour of Britain Women, made its return following a year’s break.
“We were extremely surprised to be informed by the UCI on 26 March 2024 that the 2025 Ford RideLondon Classique had been moved on the UCI Women’s World Tour calendar from the last complete weekend in May [23-25 May] to a new date a week later [30 May-1 June],” RideLondon’s event director Hugh Brasher said in a statement today.
“There was no consultation or prior warning and the news came despite LME previously being advised by the UCI that there would be no changes to the calendar until 2026.
“Major events in London, one of the world’s biggest capital cities, are planned many years ahead and it is impossible for the Ford RideLondon Classique to take place in central London on the new dates proposed unilaterally by the UCI. Alternative dates at this late stage are impossible.
“The UCI will not reverse this decision or allow two Women’s WorldTour events to take place on the same weekend. Therefore, sadly, it will not be possible to stage the Ford RideLondon Classique in 2025. It is a very sad day for professional women’s cycling.”
He continued: “The Classique was one of the higher profile events on the UCI Women’s WorldTour, taking place in one of the world’s most influential cities with extensive sponsorship support and live coverage on BBC TV and internationally. Many teams and riders cite the event as one of their top races of the year.
“RideLondon is the most successful legacy event from the 2012 Olympic Games and we are delighted that none of the other events that make the day the world’s largest one-day cycling event are affected.”
> UCI downgrades RideLondon Classique due to “unacceptable lack of respect” for teams and riders
Despite the race’s popularity among riders and teams, this isn’t the first time that the RideLondon Classique’s organisers have come into conflict with the UCI in recent years.
In 2022, cycling’s governing body threatened to downgrade the race from a Women’s WorldTour race to a ProSeries event after the organisers breached UCI regulations by failing to provide live TV coverage of every stage.
That year, only the final stage was broadcast live on BBC Two, while highlights of the first two stages were made available on the BBC iPlayer and GCN – a breach of the UCI’s rules stipulating that WorldTour events must provide live TV coverage of at least the final 45 minutes of each stage.
However, the race retained its WorldTour status after the organisers, with backing from new sponsor Ford, ensured that all three stages would have the required live footage through streaming on Eurosport and the BBC iPlayer.
20 thoughts on ““A sad day for women’s cycling”: RideLondon Classique cancelled for 2025 as UCI “unilaterally” moves dates “without consultation or prior warning””
The UCI – screwing up cycling
The UCI – screwing up cycling since forever…
Honestly, it is a rubbish
Honestly, it is a rubbish race. Flat stages destined for sprints. I know it is tied to Essex after the issues with Surrey that killed the men’s race, but I can’t see anything compelling about it that would get people wanting to watch it. In fact I was in central London on the day of the final stage and I didn’t even bother to stick around for the start. I don’t know how long they are tied to Essex for, but they need to think of a way to make it more compelling. Maybe the UCI has done them a favour by enforcing a year off.
At least 2026 I think.
At least 2026 I think.
And just because it’s boring no reason to celebrate it’s demise.
Joe Public will always view cycling races as a glorified horse race finish and if that appeals to the masses who are we to complain.
It ISN’T boring.
It ISN’T boring.
I dont think its that boring,
I dont think its that boring, well the central London crit stage was, but I can understand why cycling racing fans think its a boring race, because theres no epic part of the route that leads to a selection, because its a pretty flat course, pretty much they start as one group, they all finish as one group.
you shouldnt be able to go into a race and just from the startlist pick the winner of every stage and the race, thats why people think its boring.
There are routes around Essex they could use that would be much harder, but they almost by design go for a route that leads to a bunch sprint, because as I say its what Joe public likes more.
Yes that hill in Maldon is steep, Ive walked it, I know Id struggle to ride it, but these are riders who should comfortably ride 15% gradients as a matter of course, it really shouldnt disrupt them enough to be an issue to get over it, and they ride down it for most of the race,only switching it up for that last run to the line.
Nonsense!
Nonsense!
For a start, the two stages in Essex are NOT flat, neither are they just sprint stages – you’re underestimating Lorena Wiebes all round ability! You may not realise that the last 400 metres into my hometown of Maldon features a stiff 1 in 10 climb. I can’t think of many male sprinters who could take it in their stride and still win the stage. Come out here and try it – seriously.
All the towns and villages were packed with spectators, there’s a great, positive atmosphere!
A possible solution would be to drop the central London stage and replace it with a 3rd stage outside London, maybe in Suffolk or Hertfordshire.
By the way, I’ve been a passionate cycling fan for 55 years, I also raced for nearly 20 years. If you think that exciting racing only takes place on mountains, you really REALLY don’t get it.
Stage 1 peaked at 130m and
Stage 1 peaked at 130m and stage 2 didn’t go above 100m. That in cycling terms is flat. It doesn’t matter if this was a men’s or women’s race, it would be boring. Turn on 5km from the finish because what happens before won’t really matter. A lot of mountain races are also boring (as was the Giro this year). As cycling fans we need to call out the events that don’t do the sport any favours. The male Ridelondon was passable because of aggressive racing on the last time up Box Hill, but the subsequent distance into London made it mission impossible and thus the race wasn’t really worth watching.
In England people will turn out for anything. It still doesn’t mean it is exciting. Personally I want to see exciting events because that will draw people in. Right now we have a T20 World Cup going on with matches in America. Poor wickets have meant low scoring games and a missed opportunity for the sport of cricket. We have so few UCI race days in England now (and a dead domestic scene) that creative and exciting parcours for the ones we do have are much needed.
As for London itself, it suits an event like the now dead London Nocturne or a time trial, but not a road race.
weirdly the low scoring T20
weirdly the low scoring T20 games are much more closely matched and exciting, well apart from the daft first one, since then theyve been very good, T20 shouldnt just be a hitathon, its a contest of bat and ball imo.
similar to cycling, a diet of bunch sprint stages can be overkill, it needs variety or at least a shakeup of winners and not be predictable. The nocturne was a good event, though it became more about a night out rather than the cycling in the end.
there are some decent hills and climbs in London they could use for a route, like a route up to Greenwich observatory or something, their issue is they want it to become a tourist video for London, Big Ben, Buck house, Trafalgar square etc etc, and theyre not interested in creating a challenging route, its all about pictures of the sights and oh theres some cyclists passing by.
stonojnr wrote:
It does, and there is. Over a season. It doesn’t mean that every event has to have a bit of everything, not least because that’s impossible in a three day race. It’s not a grand tour.
Nobody would suggest that Paris-Roubaix, for example, should throw in some mountains now and again ‘for variety’. Why can’t we just accept this race for the character it has, and look to others to provide contrast?
the parcours of PR, which is
the parcours of PR, which is hard, and isnt an entire race just on cobbles, forces a selection of riders, you dont know until nearly the very end of the race, who is going to win, it isnt always the quickest or strongest rider that prevails, thats why its interesting and a very good race.
a race thats just bunch sprints, well the best sprinter is going to win, every time, that doesnt make for an interesting race.
theres absolutely space for races that arent all mountain top finishes, time trials or endless hills, but the routes need to be made more challenging to force rider selections and groups to have a chance to get away from the bunch.
any race that is literally you just have to watch the last few kms of the stage to see the winner romp to an easy victory, isnt running on a good enough course, and repeating the same recipe 3 times, does not a good race make.
There are plenty of races in
There are plenty of races in the men’s calendar, not to mention plenty of stages in stage races, that are flat and only ever going to be won by sprinters. They’re part of the palette of the sport. If you don’t like them, you can move on and watch the next race, but it’s not an argument for them not to exist, or for them to change their parcours.
You might just as well argue that time trials should be got rid of because there’s only ever a few riders that could realistically win them.
if it was just 3 stages of
if it was just 3 stages of ITTs, would you say thats interesting ?
The original route proposed
The original route proposed for 2012, was quite interesting and allowed for London to be showcased. UCI didn’t like it though, so it was sent out to Surrey.
Ah I also live in Maldon and
Ah I also live in Maldon and totally agree, it may not be the biggest hill, but the last two years it’s forced a selection, and with the right tactics other teams could use it to their advantage, it just happens to suit Wiebes racing style to a tee. And they definitely haven’t been large bunch sprints by the line, there’s only been a few riders left in contention.
Yes they could find other difficult bits to add to the route to make it harder, but then it often makes teams ride more conservatively, this year’s stage 2 had plenty of attacks and breaks, hopefully as the woman’s side of the sport grows there will be less dominance by one or two teams and it could open up the racing even more.
The London stage is a bit of a snorefest by comparison.
Why is it a “sad day for
Why is it a “sad day for professional women’s cycling”?
Races come races go, there are plenty of others to race in that the peloton will hardly notice.
it limits opportunities,
it limits opportunities, especially for British based teams & riders, to showcase themselves for their sponsors in British races.
The domestic race season has already been decimated, if international races start to go the same way then where do the next generation of British riders get the chance to race ?
So professional women’s
So professional women’s cycling is all about the English?
Other countries are in the same boat but hey, England is all that matters.
if thats your takeaway point
if thats your takeaway point from this, whatever.
dubwise wrote:
As Brasher pointed out in his statement, this was a high-profile event World Tour event in one of the world’s greatest cities that could do a huge amount to raise the profile of women’s cycling both in the UK and globally, it’s not as though the Tour of Gdansk* with fourth string riders has been cancelled, so I think saying it’s a sad day for professional women’s cycling is fair enough.
* No disrespect to Gdansk which for all I know might run a marvellous cycle racing programme, it was just the first city that came into my head…
My son will be gutted, we
My son will be gutted, we live in Maldon so we’ve been to the stage the last two years (the prior year was on a Friday so I went solo) and he loves it. He talks about it throughout the rest of the year and asks to watch the “bike racing ladies” on the tv quite often, it’s that kind of effect that a lot of races struggle to produce, and once lost takes a long time to bring back.
I hope they decide they can run it with a third stage outside of London for 2025 so that it can continue, if they wanted to mix it up a bit they could always add in a TT or TTT but stipulate it’s raced on road bikes to save all of the extra equipment being brought over.